Bitdefender Internet Security 2013 review
If you like your security suites to be feature-rich then Bitdefender’s offerings have always been a good choice. And the company’s latest releases show there’s no sign of that changing any time soon: Bitdefender Internet Security 2013 includes all the core functionality you’d expect from a suite (antivirus, firewall, spam filter, parental controls) and a lot you probably wouldn’t (virtual “Safepay” browsing, USB autorun virus protection, more).
All this power doesn’t seem to add much in the way of complexity, though. Installation is straightforward, with a single small setup tool scanning your system for threats, downloading the full suite and installing it for you with the minimum of hassle.
Does your screensaver interrupt too often? Try Cyber-D AntiScreensaver
Setting up a Windows screensaver is easy enough: just tell the system to wait for five minutes, say, and once you’ve been inactive for that period of time (no keypresses, no mouse movements) your preferred screen saver will be launched.
But of course the problem here is that inactivity doesn’t necessarily mean you’re away from the PC; you might be watching a video, or just monitoring some regularly updated webpage (stock prices, say). Ideally you need a little more control over exactly when the screensaver (or the power option to turn your PC off) is executed, then, and that’s exactly what Cyber-D’s AntiScreensaver provides.
.NET Framework Setup Verification tool now supports Windows 8
Microsoft engineer Aaron Stebner has released a new version of his .NET Framework Setup Verification tool, with preliminary support for Windows 8 and the .NET Framework 4.5.
The program’s interface remains the same as in previous builds. To use it, just launch netfx_setupverifier.exe and choose the .NET version you’d like to verify from the list (which is also a convenient way to see which .NET editions are installed on the current system).
LinkChecker lives up to its namesake
There are many tasks involved in maintaining a large website, but one of the most important comes in regularly validating your links. And that’s because a mass of broken links won’t only annoy your visitors, it’ll probably also reduce the search engine visibility which allows people to find you in the first place.
Help is at hand, though, in a variety of tools which aim to validate a site’s links for you. And LinkChecker is probably one of the most straightforward.
PrivaZer is one of the most powerful free privacy tools we’ve ever seen
If you’ve tried a few PC privacy tools then you’ll know they’re often disappointing, doing little more than you can achieve with your browser and Windows alone (clearing your temporary folders, deleting cookies and so on).
PrivaZer, fortunately, is a genuine exception, an amazingly thorough utility which could be one of the most powerful free privacy tools we’ve ever seen.
Crystal Anti-Exploit Protection exposes malware tricks
Most antivirus programs focus on identifying malicious files and preventing them from reaching (or executing on) your PC, which works to an extent, but will fail if you run into brand new malware that hasn’t been discovered yet.
Crystal Anti-Exploit Protection (CAEP) is a new security tool that tries to protect you in a very different way. There’s no scanning here, no signatures, no virus database: instead the program uses its understanding of common malware tricks to try and prevent anything nasty from infecting your system in the first place.
Outlook Configuration Analyzer 2.0 adds 75 new rules
Microsoft has released Outlook Configuration Analyzer 2.0, an excellent tool for troubleshooting a host of common Outlook 2007/ 2010 issues.
As before, the program works by scanning your current Outlook setup and looking for known problems (file sizes, DLL versions, missing updates, whatever it might be). But this release adds 75 new rules, helping it to detect more issues than ever before.
Do you miss the C Prompt? Try Take Command 14
JP Software has released Take Command 14, a powerful alternative to the regular Windows command prompt. And now it’s more powerful still, courtesy of some useful additions to the program’s scripting language.
The new TPIPE command, for instance, allows you to filter, convert and process text in a variety of ways. You can convert files to and from Unicode, for instance; convert the end-of-line type; use Grep-type line-based filters, and run a search and replace filter on a file.
Protect your data with Paragon Drive Backup 11, Genie Backup Manager Pro 9.0
Paragon Software has released Drive Backup 11 ($95.95 for Workstation), the latest edition of its business-oriented tool. And the headline improvement this time is new sector-level incremental disk imaging, which, Paragon says, has boosted the efficiency of this backup type by 200%.
Elsewhere, file-based backups can now be encrypted by a password. There’s the option to back up your data to an FTP/ SFTP server. Support for working with virtual disks has now been improved, and new asynchronous data transfer means backup performance has considerably improved.
Ashampoo Photo Optimizer 5 sports a new look
German developer Ashampoo has released Photo Optimizer 5, the latest edition of its fast and easy-to-use photo editing tool.
The revamped interface gives the program a very different look, but its core functionality is unchanged. You open with a thumbnail browser, and after browsing to your photo collection, can optimise the color, sharpness and lighting of any shot with a click.
Need a free, compact web server? Try Serva
Equipping your network with a web server can provide some useful extra ways to share files and information. Of course if you’ve tried to set one up before then you’ll know the process isn’t always straightforward, but Serva aims to change all that.
The program offers straightforward support for several protocols (http, ftp, tftp, dhcp, dns, sntp, syslog), yet somehow remains ultra-lightweight (under 2MB). And better still, it’s portable, which means you can run servers just when you need them, without affecting the host system for the rest of the time.
Slideshow Creator turns your pics into vibrant videos
When you’d like to share a particular set of photos with friends and family then you could just send them the JPEGs. Converting those images to a video slideshow with your own soundtrack, captions and custom transitions will look considerably more impressive, though -- and with a copy of Bolide Slideshow Creator to hand, that need not take very long.
Installing the program is quick and hassle-free. There are no toolbars to dodge, no unwanted extras to look for during setup, you’ll get the Slideshow Creator and nothing else.
Secure your PC with Bitdefender 2013
Bitdefender has released its 2013 range: Antivirus Plus 2013 ($49.95), Internet Security 2013 ($69.95), and the high-end Total Security 2013 ($79.95).
And the headline addition this time is Safepay, a secure virtual browser which aims to protect your online banking and shopping details (although the technology will help to shield any confidential online activity). It’s a useful feature and is available on all three products.
Chrome 20 released -- get it now!
Google has released Chrome 20 to the Stable Channel for Windows, Linux, the Mac and Chrome Frame. And while it’s a less-than-exciting maintenance build with no major visible changes, there are more than enough patches included to justify updating.
The official Chrome Releases blog details its usual top 20 security fixes, for instance. SVG and PDF-related code in particular sees some useful updates this time, although there are other important tweaks as well, including one to “prevent sandboxed processes interfering with each other” (the fact that this was possible before is a significant issue).
Recycle empties the trash from the command line
The Recycle Bin is fine for catching files you accidentally erase on your desktop, or while playing around in Explorer. But the command line, unfortunately, is a different story. Enter a “del *.*” in the wrong place and the files really are gone.
A good undelete tool will probably be able to recover them, of course (especially if you’re quick). But Recycle could help you avoid the problem in the first place, by providing a simple command line tool which that files by sending them to the Recycle Bin.
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